Wednesday, December 20, 2006

I love watching "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" every year around Christmas time. I love the entire Santa mythos. I think that he is a great reminder at this time of year of humanity's better moments: moments of kindness, charity, and love.

But, as Christians, we have to admit that there's something amiss when during the season where we should remember the Incarnation, our kids are more concerned with a fat old man in an elf suit. They're more concerned with toys.

The story of God becoming a man, coming into this world, is far more exciting than a big jolly elf who delivers toys once a year. God's gift of His Son is the greatest gift anyone has ever received, and shouldn't we want to make that more real to our children? Santa is at this spot in the list because he draws focus away from the true reason of Christmas: Christ.

I don't think he's diabolical, or threatening our children's faith, but at least with the previous entries they were looking in the right place. I'd rather my kids be mistaken and thinking about Jesus during Christmas than having a one-track mind for Santa and the toys he brings.

I think we should let Santa's stories be a fun part of Christmas, but let them be just that: stories. However, if you choose to let your kids believe in Santa, that's your choice, but please, please don't let Jesus get lost in the scramble for fun and toys.

Who Is This Guy?

Kitsch

A derogatory term used to describe works created specifically in order to pander to public demand. In this case, Christian demand for cutesy knick-knacks and other pseudo-spiritual items. I feel like the word 'kitschy' could describe a lot of the contemporary Christian church. We're converting the world, one t-shirt at a time.